Toronto Tourism News

Toronto Indie Music Scene

Sat, 8 May 2010 12:36:00 -0400

Lickpenny Loafer
The Toronto music scene is somewhat of an echo of the multicultural make up of Toronto. I find it fascinating that each neighbourhood and it's people have a welcome and open attitude to progressive music and new artists. In Toronto I can enjoy a paczik in the Polish neighbourhood near Roncesvalles Ave and Queens St, and stop by Mitzi's Sister to listen to the Fleece Elves. I can spend a day shopping in the trendy fashion stores of Queen St and Spadina Ave and stop by the Horseshoe Tavern to for a beer and old fashioned rock and roll.

One of my favourite Toronto based independent bands is the Lickpenny Loafer. Lickpenny Loafer started ten years ago as a songwriting journey by Arunachal and Devin Hannan. Weaned on a wide range of influences, the band today draws heavily from contrasting styles and serves up its own version of progressive pop. Driven by soaring vocals and expressive bass melodies, the band exists in a place where Nick Drake, Wilco, and Jeff Buckley might meet for a cup of coffee. With the added influence of contrasting styles such as Miles Davis, The Smiths, D�Angelo, and Radiohead, the music is completed with a layering of various and sundry sounds that both surprise and test the listener.This musical collaboration is the combination of two very different and personal journeys. Arunachal was born in Calcutta, India, into a South Indian household that was passionate about classical (carnatic) music. Raised in a family of singers, he began devouring music as a toddler when his grandmother, a composer, would regularly keep him with her as she developed her compositions. She would write in a focused trance while he would sit on her lap chewing through sari after sari. This was how Arunachal learned to eat music.

Devin Hannan made his first guitar out of a 2�4, nails and elastic bands at the age of 11. After a year of trying to make music out of toolshed castaways, his father finally granted him a real guitar on his 12th birthday. From the start, he totally committed himself to studying, discovering, and playing the blues. B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Robert Johnson would be his first great teachers, before Jimi Hendrix provided the segue into the world of rock.

In 1998 Arunachal and Devin met while studying to become engineers, beginning a fruitful songwriting collaboration that was essential to survival during those five years filled with heat exchangers, pump curves, and differential equations. In 2003, Arunachal journeyed to South Africa. He spent over a year in the country, absorbing the culture, enduring many challenges, and ultimately falling in love with its people. At around the same time, Devin endured a grave personal tragedy, one that spelled a very different kind of journey for him � an immense struggle that ultimately revealed the inextricable weave of sorrow and hope in life. Both experiences yielded a tremendous outpour of songs. Again, writing music proved essential to survival.

In the spring of 2005, Lickpenny Loafer made their official debut in Toronto. The band has since played countless gigs and gathered a substantial and loyal local following. In January of 2007, they were very proud to announce the release of their first EP (self-titled). The next logical, and essential, step is the completion of their first full length-album.

In today�s world of information overload and three-second sound bites, the band does not exist to be a one-hit wonder; all of their songs have been subject to a tremendous investment of time and energy. The result is music that appeals to audiences much in the way that wine appeals to the taster. It is music that the band hopes will survive, endure, and ultimately shine over a long period of time.

Lickpenny Loafer's next show is:
Wed. May 12
Lickpenny Loafer (acoustic)
Smilin Buddha Bar
961 College St. (just west of college and dovercourt)

Multicultural Toronto

Wed, 5 May 2010 00:29:34 -0400

Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world with 49.9% the population foreign-born. This makes it more ethnically diverse than Miami, Los Angeles, and New York City.

Toronto Earth Hour Photos

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:46:38 -0400

Toronto Airport Taxi for only $37

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:48:51 -0500

King Tours & Transportation Services have collaborated with TeamBuy.ca for a Toronto airport taxi deal for $37. The deal is a 40% discount off the Greater Toronto Airport Authority's rates.
Airport TaxiHow can this 40% discount be possible? The concept is not new. It is derived from the Chinese term �Tuangou� which describes the union of consumers who intend on purchasing together in return for large discounts. The idea has been cleverly applied on the internet by Edward Yao and Andrew Hutchings who created TeamBuy.ca. Businesses, such as Transportation provider KingTours.ca, are able to sell at a lower price because of the high volumes team buying can generate.

To find out exactly how it works see this informative page. Its so simple!

Toronto AGO

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:59:04 -0500

Founded in 1900 by a group of private citizens as the Art Museum of Toronto, the Art Gallery of Ontario is one of the largest art museums in North America, with a physical facility of 583,000 square feet. The AGO expanded it facility in 2008 with an innovative architectural design by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.
Collection

The AGO holds more than 79,000 works in its collection, which spans from 100 A.D. to the present. Highlights include:

The Canadian collection vividly documents the development of the nation's art heritage since pre-Confederation, including one of the largest and finest Inuit art collections in the world. The collection includes pivotal works by Cornelius Krieghoff, Lucius O'Brien, James Wilson Morrice, Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, David Milne, Emily Carr, Paul-Emile Borduas, Joyce Wieland, and Kenojuak Ashevak.

Masterpieces of European art include works by renowned artists such as Anthony van Dyck, Thomas Gainsborough, Auguste Rodin, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul C�zanne, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Ren� Magritte.

The AGO maintains a comprehensive collection of Contemporary art spanning from 1960 to the present, reflecting global developments in artistic practice across all media, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, projection art, and installation art. The collection is defined by strong holdings of leading Canadian artists such as David Altmejd, Brian Jungen, Francoise Sullivan, Jeff Wall, Shirley Wiitasalo, and inflected by major works by international artists such as Mona Hatoum, Gerhard Richter, Doris Salcedo, Tino Sehgal, Cindy Sherman, Richard Serra, Kara Walker, and Andy Warhol.

Artists represented in career-spanning depth include Iain Baxter& / N.E. Thing Co, Jack Bush, Betty Goodwin, Janieta Eyre, General Idea, Robert Motherwell, Kazuo Nakamura, Greg Curnoe, and Michael Snow.

The AGO houses the world's largest public collection of works by internationally renowned British sculptor Henry Moore.

A collection of more than 40,000 photographs represents the emergence of the medium in all its artistic, cultural and social diversity. Works by 19th-century British, French, American and Canadian photographers, and 20th-century modernists, including a significant group of 1850s prints by British photographer Linnaeus Tripe, one of the foremost collections of works by Czech photographer Josef Sudek, and more than 18,000 press photographs from the Klinsky Press Agency taken in the 1930s and 40s.

The Thomson Collection at the AGO includes a broad range of works, from European to Canadian art, ship models and decorative arts. Its European collection includes 900 works from the 12th to the 19th century, featuring Peter Paul Rubens' 17th-century masterpiece, The Massacre of the Innocents. The Canadian collection includes signature works by Cornelius Krieghoff, Paul Kane, Lawren Harris, and Paul-Emile Borduas. The Thomson collection of ship models features pieces from the Napoleonic era to the 19th century, and a decorative arts collection includes more than 500 objects of international significance, including the 12th-century Malmesbury Chasse.

Kensington Market Toronto

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:58:10 -0500

Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario located just west of Spadina Avenue and South of College Street.

Google Street View:

View Larger Map

Trail of Lights

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:23:00 -0500

The Trail of Lights is an excellent way to kick-off the holiday season with the family. The three kilometre path through Downsview Park is elaborately decorated with over 400,000 LED lights. There are 16 theme areas along the route that travels through Canada's forest in North York. In addition to the light displays, many of the exhibits are animated. Visitors may also enjoy a selection of holiday songs, which complement the visual display.Every Wednesdays the Trail of Lights is open to pedestrians. The cost is $7 per person. Drive-through are available everyday (other than Wednesdays) for $20 per per car/van.

Dates : Friday November 27, 2009 to Sunday January 3, 2010.
Times: 6pm to 11pm
Web: http://www.downsviewpark.ca/eng/trail_drive.shtml

Skating at Nathan Phillips Square

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:29:00 -0500

Nathan Phillips Square skating
The skating rink at Nathan Phillips Square opened this weekend for the 2009-10 winter season. Skating is free of charge. Skates are available from the rink's rental shop at reasonable prices, but you are encouraged to bring your own skates.

Kidzfest at Yonge-Dundas Square

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:55:32 -0500

Bring you kids to Yonge & Dundas Square this weekend for free family fun . Kidzfest allows children and their parents to enjoy Toronto's city-centre through youth focused entertainment, rides and activities for children.

bob kidzfest

* Meet and Greet with SpongeBob SquarePants� *
* Create a Holiday Card
* Face Painting
* Meet Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs
* Join Sesame Street and Mr. Dressup performer David Archibald on a zany musical adventure.
* See a Birds of Prey demonstration
Dates: Saturday November 28 and Sunday November 29, 2009
Web: http://www.wintermagic.ca/kidzfest

*Costumed characters. � 2009 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Created by Stephen Hillenburg.

Locals Know

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:12:10 -0500

locals know logo

The 2009 LocalsKnow.ca winter campaign has just kicked off. The site encourages Canadians to share and seek out their favourite winter places and experiences. Its goals: a shot in the arm to both Canada�s winter tourist economy and the media industry, plus amplifying any existing programs run by partners.

Locals Know has a few Hotel discounts, and great Tour discounts.